Kūhaku no Setsuzoku - Blank Connections
by CinnPai
Summary: A lonely entity was simply taking a responsibility to cleanse existence from corruption. Had she not left any traces, a widower and his daughter would not have ended up coming with her.
1. Introduction

There are many different alternate universes to Pokémon. One where we are captured in balls and raised in different ways by humans. One where we are temporarily caught by humans with something involving a pen. One where Pokémon set off on adventures in dungeons to fill requests given in various ways. One where we get past obstacles by making random friends. You get the point, lots and lots of universes. Universes that we're in an arena, being caught with phones to turn into candy, even erm... "adult..." content that I'd rather not go into. I exist in the damaged universes that are infested by corrupted Pokémon. My name is Mina, and my purpose is to cleanse the corruption from each universe one by one. I am referred to as the Buranku. (Google Translate: Japanese Syllables for Blank)

I am uncertain what my real Pokémon species is. I have been through these universes with many appearances, but no specific one seems to be the real me. I'm only an entity meant to move from place to place. Once I leave a universe, people forget about me. There are universes where I prevent an entire place from collapsing, and I don't have anyone recall that I was even there. I used to despise the fact that I get no recognition, but it doesn't matter nowadays. All I know is that my purpose is to purify these universes. I roam the crevices of mainstream reality, uncertain when I will cease to exist.

It does come with perks, though. Each universe has at least one beautiful, unique, and almost perfect sight to see, and I get to see a lot of them every time I appear in the universe. The lovely Rainbow Satellite among the glistening sky of shiny lights, the Tree of Origins within the End Daydream universe, the soft and fluffy beds made in Chibiverse, and many more. Still... I sometimes wish I would be able to have someone know of my existence, even when I leave. It would be pleasant to traverse alongside someone I'm fond of.

"ROAR!"

I shook my head, moving my thoughts aside for the moment. I saw my target - a Tyranitar with faded colors, eyes that were glowing purple, his entire body with wounds on them... Yeah. He's corrupted. This was the universe that was just a normal city, and the corruption made it into a town being attacked by a giant dinosaur. This universe, I was simply a Mawile in a kamishimo instead of a yellow dress, so it was somewhat unfair, in size terms. The Tyranitar is about the size of a 50 floor building, and I can't even reach a doorknob at my current height. I draw my katana, and begin running towards the Tyranitar. I assumed that it spotted me from a distance, so I had to maneuver my dashing at the moment it began throwing buildings at me. I had to run along the launched buildings, as they seemed to be the best option of reaching his weak area. At the last building, I jumped for it. I have to absorb their corrupted energy from wherever they're most sensitive, and this specific Pokemon's weak spot is on the shoulder. The giant's hand smacked me away, however, and I ended up getting launched a car distance away.

...

"Sigh, Tyranzilla is still mad?"

While the Giant Tyranitar, or Tyranzilla, was attacking the other side of this large city, I was just in my apartment. Those pathetic citizens had to deal with it, as I just lie down on my couch. It was on the news, and everything. I can't bring myself to care enough to worry, however, so I just begin making lunch for my children and- Oh. Right. I made two sandwiches. My daughter gets the one on the left, which consists of tomato slices, mayonnaise, and some chocolate frosting. My sandwich contains bacon, cheese, chili sauce, and pineapple slices.

"Dad, I found something!" exclaimed my daughter, who was coming in after a walk. I picked up what was on top of her head, and just examined it. "A crystal?"

"I ran at the strange samurai Mawile woman to try and help, and he left behind a couple of these!" she exclaimed. I moved from mild interest to extreme panic. "何?! Why would you bring something like that here?!"

"I just wanted to show you one of these! All you see nowadays is just on that television, ever since Akuma disappeared!" she cried out.

"It's safe. Television cannot hurt you, like the Tyranitar that's currently destroying one half of the city we live in!" I had exclaimed. "That Samurai Mawile is not to be trusted, trouble appears and she is the cause of it!"

"D-Daddy, I-I'm sorry!" she screamed, almost about to burst into tears. She had no reason to cry... no, wait. I had been cautious of a strange crystal to a point where I have a loud voice against my young daughter, acting like she had done something lethal and disgraceful. In an attempt to prevent her crying, I quickly grabbed the plate with her sandwich on it, and put it on the floor. "N-No. I'm sorry, I'm just overprotective. Here's lunch..." I grabbed my sandwich, and just walked back to the couch.

I'm a simple Beedrill, named Hachimitsu. My daughter is a Bounsweet named Sauna. Akuma is a son that I had before, as my daughter said, he disappeared. We both went through the pain of losing both him, and both of our mothers. Sauna kept a positive attitude about the whole living situation, as I just grew worse in cheer. I grew cautious of most things, including what my daughter and I eat. The sandwiches I made contained ingredients that I had to examine myself. Any of these ingredients could contain poison. Ironically, my stinger hands contain said poison, but I'm still cautious anyway. As I continue watching the news, THERE HE IS AGAIN! The Samurai Mawile. I watch as the news captures how he treads along the buildings towards the beast. His athletic talent is honestly entertaining, and it was oddly satisfying to see him get smacked away, to the left of the creature.

"Um, dad? Do you know which way the beast is facing?" asked Sauna.

I walked to the window, slightly seeing Tyranzilla. The way he was facing was left, which means... "GET DOWN!" I dive aside, and Sauna rolls quickly into the closet. The Mawile crashes through my apartment wall and flashes. The crystal that was still in my possession began glowing, and my eyes grew blank. "W-what the h-!"

...

It... didn't end well. The Tyranitar dealt a heavy blow, and my body couldn't sustain energy, so I ended up returning to my entity home. Oh well. It will resolve itself. I don't need to be there to finish it. I'm exhausted, I'll just lie my static and blank body in my bath. I begin undressing as I walk towards the bathroom- ... There are two figures. In my house. While I've been undressing. I have mixed feelings about this. Before I could ask them what they were doing here, they began screaming. I had begun to scream as well, leading to distortion sending me back.

I got back up on my feet in a Beedrill's apartment. I quickly charge out and run along buildings to reach the Tyranitar faster. It took a bit of skill, but I ended up taking the beast on by surprise with one swing at its back. Tyranitar roared loudly in pain, and crushed the street in front of him. I had to do this a couple of times, before he was weak enough to have his energy revealed. It was weak, and tried to hit me in a last resort attempt. I dodged its attacks to get onto the Tyranitar's shoulder, but it retaliated with a beam from its mouth that ended up with even more destroyed property. It was going to get worse from here, so I had to do this fast. I held my hand out at the Tyranitar's shoulder, and corrupted energy had began to slowly come towards me. The process of absorbing requires me to be this close to the corrupted person, and the corrupted energy enters my body. My immune system takes it from there, miniature Minas spreading throughout my body to clean the energy. When they clean the corruption away, my body releases this purified energy to return to the source. It took a while, but the Tyranitar reverted to its normal state. My mission was complete, so I fled and returned to my subspace shelter. When I returned, the two figures were back.

"Before we scream!" I yelled, before they could scream again. "Who are you two?"

"I'm Sauna!" screamed the little girl. The Man was silent at first, but I had guessed a name and he reacted to it. The little girl carried on to explain the situation. They said something about crystals, sandwiches, and television. It was a messy explanation, but I understood the point; they have no idea what the heck is going on. "Okay. You two, go sleep on the couch. I'm going to bed," I told them.

"Okay." The man was examining the couch closely, as if he expected something bad in my furniture. Sauna turned on my television and began watching cartoons that I secretly watch. It was embarrassing to have guests turn on television when there are shows that you don't want people to know you watch. I decided to skip my bath for the reason that it felt uncomfortable to use an unlocked bathroom with people in the house. Going to bed seemed to be the best option, as these people appear to be fine learning to settle in this settlement of distortion.


	2. This is Mostly Cuddling

It was relaxing to wake up, peace and quiet around me in this secluded home. However, it was even more relaxing to wake up with people beside you in bed. I was on my side, facing the mangosteen scented girl with soft, light green hair. Had she been the only person with me, this would only be a decent rest. However, the warm embrace from having metallic drills wrapped around me made this pure tranquility. I was in what is called... "cuddling." Something that I've only seen was happening to me, only because a man and his daughter begged to sleep in my room.

Hachimitsu was fine with the couch, as Sauna was not. She wanted to sleep in my bed, and I refused her wish. Sauna had offered to share the bed with me, but Hachimitsu was against sharing beds with strangers. A compromise occurred, and we ended up in this warm situation. It just feels too suspicious, I think about no one remembering the real me and then these two appear out of nowhere. I need to question this. So, it's clear that Sauna is a mangosteen Pokémon, which means that she's a Bounsweet. Hachimitsu is clearly a Beedrill, because of metallic drills. I now need to check how they got here... meaning I'll have to get up... Nah, I'll let it happen.

"You were gonna check us? I'll do that for you."

The voice bothers me. It's just too worrying that-

"We're too perfect?"

HOW THE-?! WHAT?!

"Yeah, you're saying that out loud," said Hachimitsu. "I understand, we're strangers in your home. Just continue resting with my mangosteen scented daughter with soft hair. I'm gonna try and find how we got here."

"Ah, thanks- and you heard that," I responded.

"Mhmm. Yes I did." Hachimitsu moves his arms away and gets out of the bed to check Sauna, as I just lie in awkwardness. "Wait, could you hear what I just narrated?"

"Nah. You stopped narrating stuff out loud," said Hachimitsu.

Ah. Good. "Okay, g'luck."

...

So I'm not the only person with trust issues.

I see Mina's issue here with the inability to have frequent visitors. Hell, she wasn't aware that she was narrating out loud since we appeared here the second time. The bathroom was unlocked, she was embarrassed about her cartoons, and she practices cuddling with imaginary people some nights. It was adorable when she narrated her entire dream of playing Whack-a-Drilbur with a giant lollipop. Reminds me of Sauna, when she would run into my room and beg her mother to let her sleep with us because she had a dream where... her mother and her brother was carrying her around in circles... her grandparents had made cookies, Father was still mentally stable, and we were all one happy family with a cheerful neighbor that would invite us to occasional parties that everyone loved to go to... I... I'm sorry. It was just a better time back then. When my son disappeared, my wife and mother passed, and my father lost his mind, Sauna and I were in heavy mourning. Mina seemed to have the same pain as well. It was scary to know how you can lose loved ones that fast. I treasure the moments that Sauna's still alive, since it could be a lot worse.

Anyway, I couldn't find anything on Sauna. The crystal she had was no longer in her possession, and nothing she was wearing gave off a sign that it was responsible for transportation. "Sorry, Mina. I didn't find-" I was interrupted by Mina screaming thunderously, causing a flash of light to appear in the room. It was a strange experience of flashing lights that occurred after that, leading to the three of us falling from the sky and landing in a tree. I looked around, and the entire world itself gave away that this was a medieval world. There were rural villages in the background, the wildlife around the tree consists of Slimes and Goblins, and our attire consists of adventurer outfits. I was wearing a green cloak with gray chain mail underneath, rugged beige pants, and two daggers in my hands. Mina had iron knight armor with a broadsword in her hand. Sauna's outfit was made up of white robes with a silk hood, and her hand was holding a staff.

"We're in the DragonSlayer Universe..." muttered Mina. "It's always a freaking Dragon that's corrupt... I looked at Hachimitsu and Sauna, seeing their personalities quite well. Considering that I now have people with me, I see that this will be an easy quest that ends up getting the guy in the red shirt killed-"

"Narration," I say.

"Ah, sorry." Mina remained silent, and she stood in one position for an entire five minutes. Whatever she was narrating in her head, it was long winded and complicated. Yeah, we're in a pen and paper role playing game. Mina was most likely explaining how this place worked, and a lot of complicated rules. I began walking off with Sauna on my back, and immediately we encounter enemies. This was going to be simple, I just need to slice them one at a time and WHY ARE THEY ALL ATTACKING AT THE SAME TIME?!

I quickly kick them, knocking most of them down. The remaining enemy tackles me, Sauna falling off. The enemy hops up and charges an attack, but lightning struck it to the ground. Startled, I began running. Sauna quickly ran to Mina, as I get back onto my feet, looking around to look for any other danger. Considering the circumstances, anyone could be a danger if they can make lightning strike people down. I begin running to Sauna, telling her to shake Mina and run away. There were no disagreements from Sauna; she had seen the lightning as well. Mina, however, ran towards the lightning strike. I had no clue why Mina chose that action until I saw the swarm of large slimes. I began running, but then heard continuous lightning strikes and cries of anguish. I assume that the slimes met a horrible, electric fate. I was attempting to catch up, but I lost track of which directions Mina and Sauna dashed. As a result, I was lost myself.

"Heya," said a voice behind me. I rolled to the side, barely dodging a fireball. I stared at the figure, whose attire consisted of a blue coat, a straw hat, green leather armor, and a black skirt. It was somewhat clear this person was a girl, or a guy that plays as a female character because of character design. I begin running up a tree, and scurry towards the nearest bush after throwing a dagger at the girl. It was an entire five minutes of peaceful nature sounds, and only that. I crawl out of the bush, only to get hit on the head by a stick. My vision faded, and I have no clue what happened after I fainted.


	3. Necromancer, Ropes, and a Metallic Ant

"I was left alone with the bee's child. I care extremely about the two to say I love them, but-"

"Aww~!"

"I'M NARRATING OUT LOUD AGAIN?!" I screamed. Sauna nodded, cheerfully smiling at my embarrassed blushing. "Okay. Apparently your father knew how this world functions. If he had not known, then he would have been clueless of what to do first. Do you know anything as well?"

"My boyfriends played a lot of pen and paper games, so-" said Sauna, before I interrupted to question about her "boyfriends." I was amazed at what I've learned. Apparently they told her that if you're friends with boys, then you have to seductively refer to them as a boyfriend and treat them with a lot of friendship. I'm glad they weren't the type of people to request _that_ to Sauna, but what they told her was overkill for popularity. When we returned to the original topic, I slowed down to let Sauna run in front of me, and ended up getting hit in the arm by a bone. Sauna looked back, and produced a blinding light that dissolved the bone that hit me.

"Mina, be careful. Skeletons don't naturally appear in fields," warned Sauna. "Someone's causing them to spawn." I was in the hands of a little girl for this situation, and listened closely to her orders. It was a silent five minutes, before Sauna screamed at the incoming skeleton army. I pushed Sauna away from the army, and distracted the skeletons from getting past me. They all disappeared once Sauna flashed another light. I charge ahead from where the skeletons had come from, and stared down at the necromancer. An awkward silence occurred on the field, as the two foot necromancer was looking up at me. "Oh. H-Hi."

"Hi." I crouch down and flick the skull over his head. The sorcerer began falling backwards and squeaked when his back hit the ground. His small arms began flailing rapidly, and Sauna was poking his foot with a stick. "Well, let's move on. Come on, Sauna." I lift up Sauna, and walk away from the small necromancer. "Onto the village, Sauna. We don't have time for a little kid that summons the undead."

"WHAT?!" The necromancer began yelling syllables. Sauna ran in a direction, and I ran after. Seconds later, we have a skeleton that's 50 feet tall chase us. "Sauna! Explanation!" I yell, looking over at the terrified girl.

"That's an Omega Skeleton!" exclaimed Sauna. "I-It rarely appears at all, unless when summoned! R-Records in the game show these skeletons kill people in one touch from its accursed hand!"

"Good to know! Use a spell to fight undead bosses!" I screamed, running faster.

"I don't know any!" screamed Sauna, who was also running faster. Great, we had a cleric fight through waves of these creatures, but not one that's tall. Sauna and I ran in two different directions, but the skeleton goes in my direction instead. In my direction, I could see patches of dirt move slightly, as if something was in the soil and was burrowing somewhere. The soil trail began moving towards the skeleton, and rushed forward at a swift pace. A sword sprouted out to give the trail the appearance of a ground shark. The skeleton stepped on the sword, and dissolved into dust. This caused a terrified reaction from the Necromancer when the figure holding the sword popped out from the ground. Ground-Shark was apparently a Durant with a crown, sword, and king robes. With a twirl, the Durant morphs into a tall, bulky human form. He takes one look at me, one look at Sauna, one look at the short Necromancer, and then throws his sword upwards. It was spinning in the air and almost pierced through the Necromancer's skulls.

"Okay, he didn't defend himself. He has no reason to be the antagonist," said the Durant. I was confused, until I realized Sauna was looking around for the object he threw. The sword was an Antagon blade... meaning, only its wielder and those with bad intentions can see it. At that moment, I knew that I'm doomed. I will be labeled as an evil individual if people find out I can see the sword, because I'm not in his family.

"Y-You can see it too?" whispered the Durant.

"Yeah, I said. Now- ... Oh. Um. Well." My narration has cursed me once again. It took me a few seconds to think about what to do. I began sprinting away, but the Durant grabs my shoulder and holds me still. I was forced to turn towards him, and all signs showed that he was going to kill me in some manner. "S-Sauna!"

"W-What is it?" nervously asked the mangosteen.

"Find your father. I'm gonna be gone for a little bit," I calmly told her. I look at the Durant, and stared at the sword that was now positioned in his hand as if he was prepared to slice something. As I begin to accept the possible death, I hear her voice crying in a frightened way. The voice slowly fades away, signaling that she ran away. My vision begins blurring, and I lose consciousness. The empty feeling of abandoning a crying little girl hurts more than you'd imagine, and this feeling will make this process a lot easier.

...

As I opened my eyes, I immediately looked around for possible directions that Mina and Sauna could have run. I was against a tree, and the amount of trees showed that I was lost in a forest. I attempt to stand up, but my ankles and wrists were tied together. "Oh... huh." I wasn't tied down to anything, but it was just generally difficult to move. I did manage to stand up by holding onto the tree with my hands, climb up while moving, and stand on my tied feet. One misstep could screw whatever chances I have to find Sauna. I did not remember what exactly knocked me unconscious, but it was resembling a stick. Narrations as you are knocked out are unreliable in memory.

"Hey."

The moment I hear that voice, I lift up both of my legs and spin in the air, kicking whoever was behind me. I should be grateful for my cautious senses; it was the blue cloaked girl that attacked me when I got separated. I planned to flee the battle. However, she makes it difficult. Repetitive lighting was cast at me, leading to intensive evasion on my end. She had really poor accuracy. A man with tied wrists and ankles can dodge this girl's lightning. Well, time to outsmart her. I stand in one place and wait for the next lightning. When it began, I move slightly so that parts of the rope get struck. My restraints unraveled, and I begin running quickly. I pick up the sound of another person chasing me silently, and throw one of my daggers in the direction. A scream gave great clue that I hit something. The loud scream from a little girl gave great clue that I screwed up.

When I ran back to where I threw my dagger, I stared at a Cubone Necromancer with it in his arm. Behind him, Sauna was trying to heal the injury with cleric magic. "I-I'm so sorry, kid! I thought you were-"

"D-Daddy!" screamed Sauna, who ran up to me and gave my leg a hug. It was adorable, but there was a Cubone she was in the middle of healing. I direct her attention, and she pulls the dagger out to throw potion liquid at the wound. It was questioning why potions worked better than cleric magic until I realized sorcerers were full of undead magic. Clerics that purify wounds can hurt the undead.

"Okay, sweetie," I calmly said. "Do you know where Mina is?"

"O-Oh... W-We left her behind. The Durant King was about to execute her, and she told me to look for you immediately," said Sauna, with slight distress in her voice. I told her to lead me to where she left Mina, and we began running. The Cubone follows us for reasons that I can't figure out. However, more people means our party is stronger. Considering the situation, we might be too late.


	4. King

Eventually, I regained consciousness, and looked around the room from a really comfortable bed... wait. Am I narrating out loud? I decided to check with a fancy mirror that was in the room. Ahem. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. The giant Bidoof flew from the sky and hit into my legs. Nope, not narrating out loud. Huh... I was a Honedge a while back. When I was narrating the overview, I was definitely sure about my sword leg... now I feel like an unidentified species.

"Checking if you were narrating out loud?"

"Yeah." It took me ten seconds to realize there was a voice. I turned to face the Durant that was sitting in a chair against the wall. "Oh... H-Hey..." It's kind of unsettling to have the person who was about to kill me in the same room as me.

"Mina... it's me... your dad..." said the Durant. The news hit me extremely rough, but I got over it and assumed this guy's lying. "I've finally found you after all these years... I've missed you a lot, sweetie..." He walked over and hugged me tightly, but this was clearly a ruse. First, the Durant didn't seem friendly the first encounter, so if he knew I was his daughter... why the sword threat? Second, his hug felt forced. There was no sign of worry or happiness in his heart when the hug pressed his chest against me. Third, I heard him say something during the hug, as if he was talking to someone with his wrist. When he pulled away, I payed close attention and remained alert. "So... Dad. How did you find out it was me?" I asked him.

"Oh, well. I knew you were my daughter from a gut feeling," said the Durant King.

"Elaborate. What else was evidence that I'm your daughter?" I questioned.

"Um... Well... I, uh..." Occasional pauses. He's thinking as this conversation goes on. If that's not suspicious, I don't know what else could be. However, I can't be too harsh. Who knows? He might actually be a lonely king that wants someone to care for, and assumed I was a threat... or so I thought. What he said next confirms my suspicions. "W-Whatever the reason, Mina... I missed you very much. It's lonely in the castle without any family... I'm sorry that I was intimidating, I needed to check that it was you... I wasn't sure, but I knew it was you. I can't believe I let my daughter end up becoming a Buranku, but you're safe now. Daddy's gonna protect you, sweetie. No one will harm you."

... I wasn't sure, but I knew it was you. I can't believe I let my daughter end up becoming the _Buranku._

 _I can't believe I let my daughter end up becoming the Buranku._

 _Buranku._

 **BURANKU.**

"Oh... um, Daddy. I'm hungry... Can I eat lunch?" I ask, showing no signs of fear. "I feel as if I need to make lunch by myself to get used to the food..."

"O-Oh... Sure, Mina." I got up and walked out of the room. Checking my body, I saw that I was in red pajamas that had sunflower patterns on them. I was wearing blue slippers with a cute slime design, and warm socks with red and pink stripes were covering my feet. Whoever dressed me, they had a good view of what I dream my sleepwear will be. It may be childish, but I liked how cozy it felt.

I had little idea why I was important to the King, but one thing's for sure: I need to leave. The castle was confusing, and I got lost a couple of times. I eventually became even more clueless to which way I should go. I continued walking, but a butler stopped me. "Lady Mina. Where are you going?" he asked.

"I want to go for a walk," I respond.

"Where to?"

"Around the village."

"Around the village?"

"Yes."

"Where the exits are?"

"Um. Yes."

"..." The Butler immediately screams "THE BURANKU IS ESCAPING!" very loudly. Startled, I punched the butler right in the face. I had to strip him and shove him into an empty room, then I put on his clothes and his hair. Yes, I stole his hair. This got dark, but this part would have been darker if I didn't do that.

"Hey! You said the Buranku was escaping?" A variety of people had ran up to where the voice came from. Such crowd consists of royal knights, servants, and three suspicious people among those knights and servants. I nod at the crowd, and point in a direction. "T-The Buranku ran that way, but she stole my weapons so-"

"The Buranku's a girl?" asked one of the knights.

"Yeah, why else do you think the King didn't extract her energy right away? Girls are tougher than guys," said a maid.

"Heyheyhey. Guys are stronger. The Buranku must have been a guy, and this ugly butler mixed up the gender," said a different knight. I took offense, but this hairstyle and suit... they're really messy. I began walking away, leaving the gender war alone. There was an opening in one of the walls, so I entered and began traveling in secluded stealth. It didn't last long, because this opening led to only one room - and Sauna's been found in it.

"You were with the Buranku when we got her, and at the time of her escape you and your friends ran into the castle," said a man who was standing in the middle of the room. Along with them, there was a slanted table and an uninterested woman leaning against a wall with a towel in hand. "Tell me what you know, or else I'm gonna waterboard you."

Sauna had a terrified look on her face. She was in ragged peasant clothes, and one of her eyes was shut tight. I had to get her out, immediately. The risk that these two people have weapons is a factor, however, so I was forced to time my action correctly. The moment that the man was walking away from Sauna, I sneak over to where she was sitting and pull her to the wall opening. Only the female interrogator saw me, but there wasn't a clear view of who I was, leading to her dismissing me from being a threat. "Sauna." The mangosteen looked at me, and smiled weakly. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine, M-Mina..." she weakly responded. "The m-man was fierce, but I c-could never die from what weak thing he was going to do..."

"... Sauna. They were going to put you on a slanted table and put a wet towel over your face," I told her. "I got you out just in time. Doing that makes you feel the cruel feelings of drowning."

"O-Oh..." Sauna tried reaching for my arm to hug it. I moved my arm closer, and she weakly hugged it. "D-Daddy... and Mizetto... we hurried here to avenge you... and you're alive..."

"Mizetto...?"

"Japanese phonics for Midget... I gave him that name, and he accepted it..." She chuckled weakly as I put my arm around her. We both stand up, and I lead the way out of the wall. Both of us were unarmed, walking through the hallways of a large castle. The two of us slipped on a smooth, marble floor and began sliding along the hallway. We were literally under a guard's nose when we slid past one. It was a thrilling ride, but I need to remember that I have to keep us safe. Hachimitsu and... Mizetto are somewhere in the castle as well...

...

"Was leaving a good option?" asked the Necromancer.

"They started biting. We needed to leave that crowd," I responded. "Right, Sauna?"

"R-Right!" said Sauna. "We needed to leave that place, Hachimitsu!" Instantly, I knew something was wrong. Most of the time, Sauna doesn't address me as my first name. When she does, she's usually depressed. How Sauna said that sentence just now... it wasn't in depressing tone. I lift Sauna up and look at her closely. She made no effort to conceal her face, it was clearly the face of the lightning girl. "... Oh... Hi..."

"... Hello." I put her down onto the floor, and pick up the Necromancer. "Let's go." I run quickly away from the girl. My goal now was to search for Sauna. I was frightened and full of anxiety at the possible outcome that my little girl is alone in a large castle. The Necromancer... ミゼット (Translated Phonics: Mizetto)? Yeah, ミゼット, Sauna and I had planned to run into this castle to simply avenge Mina. It was going to be a simple case, but we had to blend in with a crowd when the butler loudly screamed that "THE BURANKU IS ESCAPING!" If Mina is alive, then she's clever enough to take care of herself. Sauna's a priority that I put first. ミゼット must have agreed with me, since he was just as worried as me.

However, fireballs were being launched at us. ミゼット... Mizetto? Mizetto was just running as the fire was missing him completely. However, I'm the unlucky man who had to effectively evade even more of these spells. If she didn't have a grudge against me, I would have been astounded how lucky Mizetto is. I saw an opening in a wall and jumped into it, effectively escaping the mage. However, the situation ahead was worse than having fireballs launched at me. Two people were just staring at me, so I had to look around for a quick strategy.

And then my eyes widened at the blood puddle. "N-No..." The blood was a mixture of green and pink. I looked around more to see cleric robes hanging on a wall. "No... y-you two..."

"... Get him," said the man. The woman rushes forward with two large swords, but I roll to the side. My eyes widened with a few tears escaping, my mouth opened to reveal clenched teeth, and my grip on the daggers tightened. The woman, as she was about to strike, was then stabbed in the knee with both of my daggers. I leave the daggers there and take both of the large swords. "Y-YOU KILLED HER." I whacked the woman with a sword handle, and she fell over. Looking over to the man, he was standing in terror. "R-Reinforcements! This is Apocalypse. An unidentified individual is in the interrogation room. Rose is knocked out, repeat, Rose is knocked out." Within a couple of seconds, the exit door of this room is surrounded with armed knights.

"Is that the Buranku the King told us about?" asked one of the knights.

"No, the king confirmed the Buranku was female," said a different knight. "Apprehend him."

My vision became glitchy. I can't describe the events after this, but I regained vision when I was lying against a wall. Next to me we're corpses of guarded knights, causing me to be afraid. The swords I took were bloody and rusted at my feet, and the interrogation man was shaking in fright within the room. I get up slowly, seeing that my chain mail was broken in a way that gave a slash indicator. If I didn't have the chai mail, whatever broke it would have cut my body. When I get to the hallway intersection, I saw a weaponless Mina and an exhausted Sauna bump into me. Despite the poor condition, at this point it could be even worse if Mina wasn't here. "S-Sauna!" I exclaimed. "You're alive!"

...

"Sauna!" Hachimitsu exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"Of course I am..." weakly responded Sauna. Hachimitsu immediately heard her weak voice, and grabbed her to look for her injury. It was uncertain where Sauna sustained damage, but Hachimitsu made her feel less hurt with a caring hug. She was still weak, but she no longer looks like a club was used to injure her. When we saw him, Hachimitsu was walking down a hallway casually. The placement of the hallway means he must have been spotted at some point- "OH MY GOD THERE ARE DOZENS OF BLOODY CORPSES. I THOUGHT WHAT I WAS DOING WAS DARK."

Sauna looked down the hallway, and she was shaking. Hachimitsu tried to comfort her, but the corpses weren't what she was afraid of. Eventually, the Beedrill and I saw the king walk down the same hallway from a room, as he was holding his bloody sword. What I had assumed was incorrect; Durant did it instead of Hachimitsu. I glared at the ant as Hachimitsu was prepared to retreat with Sauna on his back. "Mina. Run when I say go," said Hachimitsu.

The Durant king took one long step towards us. "Buranku... we could have done this peacefully... you would have allowed us to extract your corrupt energy... but no... you and your friends had to cause disorder..."

"You're the reason why we're even here! You kidnapped me, and forced me to remain in the castle! You injure a little girl because I escaped 'my' bedroom to make food?!" I yelled.

"You won't understand. You are full of energy that I depend on. We were going to extract it peacefully... but you cause a conflict between my knights and maids... you cause destruction of property with walls hit by fire... my knights are dead because your rogue here overreacted to damn blood..." said the Durant. "My brother is dead because you punched his face. He began choking on a tooth and suffocated to death in the room you left him naked in... you dare say I'm the villain here?" The King laughs in grief. "You're someone else who's seen the Antagon blade... meaning you intended to cause this destruction! You shall pay for this!" He held his sword upward, and I immediately knew to run. I ran one second earlier than when Hachimitsu said now, and Sauna paid the price by nearly avoiding the slash. Hachimitsu ran past the Durant into the hallway with corpses, as I was apparently making him chase me away from the bee and the mangosteen. "Mina, duck!" screamed Hachimitsu. I did so, and I saw Mizetto jump over me. A storm of fireballs rush past me, hitting into Durant's body multiple times. His armor endured the normal fireballs, but the giant fireball that almost hit me had pushed him backwards. Hachimitsu ran back out of the corpseway to whack the king and the fireball through walls.

"Okay, that's settled," said Mizetto. "Let's go. I found the way to the exit while running from Fiesta here." Mizetto ran past a mage that I assume is Fiesta, and I followed after. Hachimitsu ran ahead, Sauna holding onto him weakly. I was the slowest person, as even the mage was walking faster than me. The moment that all five of us are out the door, Mizetto remembered to remind us that we don't have weapons. We argued about who would get the weapons. I couldn't be the one, because I'm the one being hunted. Hachimitsu refused, since he had to care for Sauna. Mizetto was too short to look for the weapons if they're at high places, and Fiesta was just plain lazy.

"Hachimitsu. We'll watch over Sauna. Just hurry and get the weapons," said Mizetto. Hachimitsu almost put up an argument, but looked at me for three seconds and then just ran back into the castle. Maybe he felt grateful that I was watching over Sauna before we found him. Maybe it could just be-

"GET DOWN!" Fiesta pulls me down onto the ground, as a storm of arrows were being fired over us. Hachimitsu was crawling towards the source of the arrows to sneak past the archers, who were distracted by the Dragonite that was closing in on the village. I stared at the Dragonite to see that he was the corrupted one that I had to purify. The flaw in this: I had no weapons yet. I pick up Sauna and effectively sidestep to dodge most of the arrows as Mizetto and Fiesta were left behind in the crossfire.


	5. Clash (DragonSlayer End)

(Sorry this took so long. Oh, and the alternating Mina and Hachimitsu POVs will stop being frequent, as I will begin labeling the POVs for different characters.)

-Mina

I caught up with Hachimitsu, still holding onto Sauna. Looking back at the crossfire, Mizetto was patiently waiting with what I was assuming is Fiesta, both of them shaking in fear. If we are to survive, we needed to get the weapons right now, or else everyone here shall be burned remains. I was already lost, and had little clue to where the weapons were. Hachimitsu, however, was running continuously as if he knew where to get defense. However, he stopped right away when he saw something. As soon as I saw what he was focusing on, I began judging his priorities. The room he led us to was a nuclear shelter, made of diamond walls with shelves of canned food and bottles of water. The shelter had a lot of survival supplies, and seemed sturdy enough to survive a... dragon attack... Okay. Hachimitsu thinks it's useless, and that the dragon will win. "Bee. Why are you abandoning the cause?" I asked.

"Mina... Buranku... I know you took on Tyranzilla, but this is a freaking dragon with dangerous fire. I can't risk us dying," said Hachimitsu. "We haven't leveled enough, we have no special skills, and now we have to take on a dragon. I think this is a losing battle."

I was going to tell him that we're unable to die or cease to exist, since we simply teleport back to the void realm. However, Sauna interjected while still weak. "D-Dad... we can't abandon people in their time of need... You c-concern about safety only for you and me... We c-can't hide away and do nothing as p-people are dying... Daddy... please, don't surrender..."

Hachimitsu was uninterested in what Sauna said. "Sauna, I know you just want to save Fiesta."

"Mhmm, you got me." Sauna laughed, before Hachimitsu threw a knife at her. She dodged quite effectively, the knife missing by one inch. "... D-Daddy, b-before you throw another knife at me..."

"You're not fooling me, Fiesta. I know what the real Sauna thinks of you," said Hachimitsu. "Not only that, but if she was to go into that crossfire, she would aim for saving Mizetto. If she was to convince me to do so, specifically in this situation, she would have brought up the point that we are practically immortal due to the fact that at any time we die, we simply regenerate minutes later."

The fake Sauna was looking straight at Hachimitsu with both shock and oddly attraction. Seconds later, however, a thought clicked into Hachimitsu's head. His daughter was not in my hands right now. At that moment, he ran out at the speed of light, and I tossed Fiesta aside to hurry and find our weapons.

...

-Sauna

"M-Mizetto, where are we going?" I asked.

"I don't know. We're crawling out of this crossfire and running somewhere safe," responded Mizetto. I didn't really agree with this idea, but dad would have approved. I just crawl behind him. The storm of arrows were not really making a noticeable impact, as the Dragonite was still standing tall in front of the castle. It was hard to crawl away in my condition...

"Mizetto... I can't keep up... help me out..." I cried out quietly, and assumed that Mizetto didn't hear me, as he kept crawling on. I stopped moving to rest for a bit, despite the arrow barrage. I lost track of time, staring with the side of my head against the ground. Once again, I was left alone. Interrogation was one thing, but being weak and frail in the middle of an attack against a Dragonite was worse. I was being nice when I went with dad's protective decisions, but now... I understand why he would avoid many things. You end up alone, unable to do anything as time continues passing... the dangers that can happen will come back to hit you later on... no one will be aware of you soon if they don't even know if you're in danger... and the ones that do may not even care for anything but themselves... the defense against the Dragonite was futile, simple arrows will only annoy bosses with little damage. I... accept my fate, abandoned on the ground...

However, my wrists... they were soon grabbed, and I was being pulled from the spot. Their legs belonged to a stranger, but I felt safe in the person's hands for the entire distance that they dragged me. When the person stops to let go of me, I could hear a distorted warp noise. After that, five different voices cried out in pain, and then slashing noises with a sound of cracking. The sounds get stranger and stranger, and they stop once the wrists grab me once again. Instead of dragging me, the person lifts me onto their back. At that point, I just saw a wide area that was full of dead people and three tranquilized goblins with bloody knives.

"Alright, Buranku... I know you're a clever entity that sometimes has bizarre plans, but why the hell was it a good idea to lie in the middle of crossfire?" asked the person.

"B-Buranku? You know Mina?" I responded.

"Remove the crap from your speech. Your energy print is the same as usual, Buranku."

"I'm not the Buranku... I just know her..."

"..." The person put me down, and looked at me. He was towering over me with what I'm assuming is his five foot eight height, his attire consisting of a black hoodie, a white scarf, and gray jeans. His black hair was short and messy, with one neon blue crescent placed on the middle of his hairstyle. I stared at his red eyes, and felt a strange feeling.

"... Sauna Yoshino, age 11 in just 4 days. Came here with the Buranku and a Hachimitsu Yoshino, age 29?"

"Uh... I don't know my father's age," I told him.

"Still. Do you know where the Buranku is?"

"I lost track after the crossfire. She was carrying me until it happened, and ran off with my dad and something else."

"Hm. The castle, maybe." The guy was walking in a direction now, and it took two minutes for me to realize he forgot to bring me along. I got up and ran after him, and he stopped just to pick me up. What a nice stranger.

"So... who are you?" I needed to ask, because I forgot that he was a stranger until just now.

"Ever heard of the Hinode and the Nichibotsu?" he asked.

"The sunrise and the sunset?" I asked him.

"So you've heard of them?"

"Maybe?"

"I'll explain the basics," the stranger said. "The Hinode is a resourceful... universal entity. It takes advantage of what it can do, and tries to solve issues in the most thoughtful way. The Nichibotsu is the complete opposite, as it improves its capabilities beyond the natural limit and solves issues in the most chaotic and careless way possible."

I tried to understand his explanation. Considering his attire... "And... you're the Nichibotsu?"

"What? No, I'm the Hinode," said the person. "Hayden, if you prefer."

"So if you're the Hinode, Hayden... then who's the Nichibotsu?"

"You'll know her when you see her. She's disguised as a trigger happy mage, using a personality that made her as noticeable as possible," said Hayden. "She fell in love with this thief, and-"

"Fiesta?"

"... Yeah, that's her character name," said Hayden. "Ran into her?"

"She's been attacking my father with her magic spells, and was with us for a bit until Mizetto and I were separated from Father and Mina," I answer.

"... You've gotta be kidding me with this stuff, Noelle." Hayden continued walking, not attracting the monsters into battling us. In reality, all of them are currently casually following us. Whatever Hayden was, he must have done something to make this happen.

...

-Mina

"Hachimitsu!" I called out to him from a window. It was no use, he was already assaulting the Dragonite with his hands. I had to find a weapon-

"FLASH!" The Dragonite was hit with a blinding light, stunning it for 2 seconds. I looked at the window the light came from, seeing Fiesta casting that flash spell at the Dragonite over and over again. I was slightly blinded, but found our weapons under the bed that was in the room the king was keeping me in. I quickly obtained the sword, daggers, and staff. With haste, I jumped out the window and broke my fall on the corpse of a burnt soldier. Hachimitsu was panicking, as Sauna was nowhere to be seen. The soldiers were swarming around the Dragonite, swords in arms as they pull their best efforts. Fiesta was exhausted, hanging from the window by her legs, and I couldn't see Mizetto anywhere.

"... Hachimitsu! Daggers!" I tossed the daggers to him, and he caught them in a manner that landed him into a cool pose. I kept the staff on me, as Hachimitsu and I charged at the dragon with our weapons drawn and equipped. Even though we were just level 5 in our stats, we kept clever footing in dodging the Dragonite attacks at the right time. Slight damage was dealt to the beast, which was quite significant in the game of DragonSlayer. Hachimitsu was trying even harder than he would, due to his grieving fury. This went on for hours, and the Dragonite was almost down.

"Hey, Mina, I just realized. Why didn't we just purify the Dragonite?" asked Hachimitsu.

And then the universe slapped me in the face that day. I held my hand out at the Dragonite, and corrupt energy was absorbing into my body. The Dragonite perished from the continued soldier attacks before I could finish absorbing all of the energy. The corruption spread and flew a direction. Hachimitsu quickly ran after it, wanting to refrain from losing it. I was going to follow, but I overheard a scream coming from the castle.

Walking towards the scream, I saw what was happening, as did the other soldiers. The king was just a pile of bones now. "The king's dead?!" I exclaimed.

"How did this happen?!" asked a soldier.

"Wait... the king died two weeks ago!" said a maid.

"Two weeks ago? When the undead began appearing?" asked a different soldier.

"Undead..." I say quietly. "... oh no." Immediately, I run after Hachimitsu. Fiesta fell from the window, and ran after me.

...

-Hayden

"Round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the town," sang Sauna. I compliment her... childish singing. Personally, Noelle and I had better voices than most of the people here. When the mangosteen and I come across a fork in the road, both of us were startled by the flying corrupt energy that turned left. The thief Noelle and I had gotten while I was using a stick was up ahead, appearing to run after the energy. He stops when he sees us, however. Sauna leaped off of me into his arms, and the two hug.

"... Hachimitsu Yoshino. Age...?" I asked him.

"How do you know my name?! Oh, and 31," said the thief.

"I'm a... close friend of the Buranku," I told him.

"Speaking of which, hi Mina!" exclaimed Sauna. I looked over, and saw her. The glorious Buranku in her master art of disguise. Right behind her was Noelle. Of course. "O-Oh, Noelle..." I said. Hachimitsu was confused at what I said, and Noelle glared at me.

"HAYDEN! I THOUGHT WE AGREED THAT WHEN ONE OF US TAKES OFF THE DISGUISE, THE OTHER PERSON TAKES THE DISGUISE OFF!" she loudly screamed. Her mage clothes were poofed away. Noelle had a charming appearance with her shiny, long, and white hair that had half of a yellow circle dyed on the front of her hair. She wears a white hoodie, gray pants, and a mask that's currently on the side of her head. This might seem serious, but Noelle's look is ruined by a pink, fluffy dog collar that I tricked her into putting around her neck. Plus, she's always ending up causing a loud commotion in every universe we've gone to. Basically, she should normally be in a clown outfit.

Mina was staring at Noelle. She quickly ran the direction that the corruption was going, clearly realizing that Noelle is the one who does things carelessly. Noelle continued following, jumping through a tree in the process. I jump forward, and a tree near Sauna and Hachimitsu exploded, launching them in the direction that Mina went. Soon, I got caught in Noelle's bad luck when the path turned to ice, causing me to lose my footing and fall on my stomach. It took a lot of effort to casually swim on the ice, but Noelle caused the ice to pick me up and throw me forward.

"Noelle, turn this ice back into the ground!" I told her.

"Not my fault you guys aren't good at ice skating!" exclaimed Noelle.

"It is entirely your fault that we aren't good at ice skating!" screamed Mina. "Now stay out of our way! Both of you!"

"Um, guys, the corrupt energy," said Hachimitsu. "It's turning left."

"Hold onto Noelle," I calmly said. I grab her right shoulder, and Mina grabs her left arm. Sauna decided to hold onto MY leg, and Hachimitsu wraps his arms around Mina. This might be painful for Noelle, so I spun all five of us in circles that allowed us to turn on the path anyway. It rearranged us so now Noelle was on Hachimitsu's back, Mina balanced on her stomach over Noelle's head, and both Sauna and I holding onto Mina. Noelle would usually be annoyed at this point, but she kept quiet as she was holding tightly onto Hachimitsu. Mina grew tired of the ice skating shenanigans, and aimed her hand at the corrupt energy to try and absorb it. I took notice, and did the same. Noelle caught on after a few seconds of creepily sniffing the Beedrill, and held her feet out at the energy. It was slowing down, being drawn towards us. I just have to continue with this, and we'll be done.

"... G-Guys! It's the Omega Skeleton!" exclaimed Sauna. Mina heard, and jumped forward to continue chasing the corrupt energy. Now the rest of us had to deal with a skeleton? How hard could that be- ... oh. my. god.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" screamed Noelle. "SAUNA, CLERIC MAGIC!"

"I DON'T HAVE MY STAFF!"

"Mina has it," said Hachimitsu. "Seems like she forgot to give the staff to you... oh look, here comes Mina, as well as the energy." Hachimitsu said that in the most uninterested way, and moved slightly to the side. The corrupt energy flew past us, and appeared on top of the skeleton's head. A midget guy was at the end of the ice path, and jumped at the skeleton to take the energy.

"Betrayal. Look, as your precious Mizetto takes the corrupted energy," said Noelle, speaking in a monotone voice. "Who ya gonna hate, cherry girl?"

"Mangosteen," said Hachimitsu.

"Not the time," said Mina. "This will just end in about three, two, one-" I didn't understand what Mina was saying, until I saw the tsunami of monsters crash against both the midget and some Omega Skeleton? The monsters move along, and we are left with a weak midget.

"... Hinode, Nichibotsu," said Mina. "When I take the corrupt energy, kill this son of a-"

"Sauna..." groaned the midget. "You're a naive person..."

"W...what?" she asked. I examined the scene, and Sauna's heartbeat was speeding up slightly. Hachimitsu was getting tense, as was Mina. Sauna was currently nervous, as shown by her slight shaking and her worried facial expression. "What are you talking about?"

"These... people... they're responsible for your family dying..." groaned the midget. "Everyone... except for the bee... if you didn't bring those... crystals... you would have lost Daddy..."

"What are you talking about, Mizetto?" asked Hachimitsu.

"The B-Buranku, they took my family away... the king, queen, princess... my closest retainer fell at the hands of the entities... and now they're taking my life... the Buranku has visited your universe more than once, and every time she takes your world's corrupt energy... someone dies..."

"..." Both Hachimitsu and Sauna were silent. Mina was staring at the midget with a frightened glare. "M-Mina..." nervously said Hachimitsu. "Did you kill... almost everyone... that I cared about?"

"I..." Mina looked at Noelle, then looked at me. "You two have the situation handled, right? I... need to talk with the bee and the mangosteen alone..."

"Can we come over for movie night?" asked Noelle.

"... Not the time, but sure..." said Mina. The three of them glow, and vanish.

"... B-Brother... the bee was going to die?" asked Noelle.

"Noelle, you saw how it happened. She crashed into their apartment," I told her. "... Midget. You dare mess with us-"

"Go on and kill me..." groaned the midget. "I don't care anymore...!"

"..." Noelle and I decide to leave the midget out here, and warp to our domain.

...

-Hachimitsu

Sauna and I were nervously sitting at the dinner table. I could tell that we both saw Mina as a threat, but couldn't do anything about it. This was nothing like I've dealt with; we were in the same house as the serial murderer that almost killed us. We were hungry, but feared the food here. Turning on the television wouldn't help... and sleeping will just kill us. Even if we were to run, the crystals that saved us also put us in danger of going everywhere Mina does...

"G-guys..." Sauna and I were alerted by the voice, and turned to it. Mina slowly walked to the table, holding a tray with cupcakes on it. "I'm... sorry. It means nothing if I actually intended to kill your family..."

"Mina. Tell us why..." I began to speak. "Tell us why my family is dead."

"... When I was in your world the first time, the corrupt energy fought strong. The carrier it possessed, Sauna's grandmother... she killed herself to protect everyone in her family. The energy made her unable to calmly wait for the extraction, so she took a knife and stabbed herself in the head..." Mina paused, intensely breathing to try and calm down. "... I had to fix her head to make it look like she passed. Your son and Sauna's brother didn't die, the corrupt energy fled from the sewer rat king and flew into his mouth. Akuma, was it...? He became a servant of the Fuhai, the corruption rehabilitation president. Currently... he is a mindless slave, obeying Fuhai's every wish until his corrupt energy is absorbed in 300 years. Hachimitsu... your wife, Sauna's mother... she wanted to kill me. I tried to calm her down, but it drove her crazy to try and stab you. I grabbed her, and threw her out the window. It was to protect as many people as I could, but she stabbed your neighbor. Your father was watching, and became traumatized when I stabbed your wife. He wanted to kill everyone in the world... and the Nozomu, wish... put him in a world of his own, free to kill as many people as he wants..."

"..." I looked at Sauna. She was about to cry, but I don't know why this time. The news didn't go down easy with me, and it was hard to swallow... "Mina... if you can look at us calmly, and say that-"

"I never meant to hurt anyone... I... I'm so sorry..." Mina said it exactly the way I thought she would. I could hear her sorrow, and her eyes are tearing up. "H-Hachimitsu... I'm... grateful... to have met you and Sauna... The Buranku is a heartless... entity that..." her eyes released waterfalls of sadness. "The Buranku kills anyone she has to, and those she meets... d-die... I've had the burden of loneliness for a long time, and I'm just... happy when I'm with you two... I'm sorry about your family... but if you want to leave... I won't summon you however I did..."

"M-Minaaaaa!" cried out Sauna.

Sauna ran to Mina, and hugged tightly. The story wasn't that saddening. In all honesty, it just feels like she's doing this out of pity. "... Mina. I'll stand by you... just because I don't want to die next." I just sigh, and walk into the bedroom to sleep. Twenty-two minutes later, the two of them walk in. They get in their comfortable snuggle positions, and I wrap my arms around them to join. I just feel like... we need to be here for Mina...

...

-Noelle

"WHY ARE WE NOT TELEPORTING TO MINA'S DOMAIN?!" I screamed.

"Remember that whole 'unable to contact the Buranku' thing?" said my brother.

"AAAAGH!"


End file.
